Twins Minor League Report (5/11): Rooker Walks Off In Grand Style

Two Twins affiliates had ninth-inning wins including a grand walkoff. Two top pitching prospects started the doubleheader for the Rochester Red Wings. Zack Granite made his return after missing a month in Rochester. And which prospect reclaimed the minor home run lead in the Twins system?

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Brent Rooker)

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Friday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

TRANSACTIONS

The Red Wings announced that OF Nick Buss was reinstated from the disabled list.

To make room, LH RP Mason Melotakis was released.

On Saturday, Trevor May will be added to the Miracle roster on a rehab assignment.

Zack Littell was back on the mound for his second AAA start. He threw six scoreless innings in his first Red Wings game, and be started this game with three more zeroes. He gave up a solo home run in the fourth, but that was it. The right-hander gave up just one run on two hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out eight. Nick Anderson came on for the seventh inning with a two-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer to Erik Kratz that tied the game and sent it to extra innings.

In the eighth inning, Wynston Sawyer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Red Wings the lead. James Ramsey added an RBI single which was important. Anderson gave up an unearned run (the runner who started the inning on second base) in the eighth, but he recorded the win.

Zack Granite returned to the Red Wings lineup. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and stole a bag. Jake Cave was 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run single that gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Wynston Sawyer went 2-for-3. James Ramsey went 2-for-4.

It wasn’t a good second game for the Red Wings. Stephen Gonsalves struggled with his control and command. The lefty gave up four hit, walked three and hit a batter. He gave up six runs, the big blast being a grand slam by Brandon Drury. He left after recording just five outs. Luke Bard gave up three hits over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He struck out one. Gabriel Moya gave up one run over the final two innings. He struck out four.

The Red Wings managed just four hits in Game 2. Willians Astudillo had two of them. Nick Buss and Jake Cave each had one hit.

The game was tied at two, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Brent Rooker stepped to the plate and ended the game in walk-off, grand slam fashion. He noted after the game that it was the first time he’s ever hit a walk-off grand slam, though he has had walk-off home runs. His manager, Tommy Watkins, noted following the game, “It was a bomb!”

Lefty Anthony Marzi was good in his first Double-A start, and he was good again in his second. He gave up just two runs on five hits over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out four without a walk. Ryan Eades came on to get the final five outs. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out three.

The Lookouts had seven hits, but no hitter had more than one hit. Rooker’s walk-off grand slam was obviously the biggest hit of the game. Edgar Corcino added his seventh double. Nick Gordon was 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.

Travis Blankenhorn got things going in the right direction, but it wasn’t enough on this night. Blankenhorn went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run in the top of the first. Jimmy Kerrigan went 2-for-3, was hit by a pitch and knocked his tenth double.

Brady Anderson made the start. He gave up four runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out five batters without issuing a walk. Hector Lujan threw two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit, walked two and struck out one. Tom Hackimer gave up a hit, walked one and struck one out in his scoreless inning.

The game was tied heading into the ninth. The Kernels got RBI singles from Ben Rortvedt and Jordan Gore to take the 7-5 lead which they were able to hang on to for the final three outs.

Blayne Enlow made his fourth Kernels start. He gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits. He walked two and struck out three in 3 1/3 innings. Jovani Moran struck out four over 2 1/3 innings. He gave up just one hit and walked one. Carlos Suniaga gave up one hit and one walk over the final 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two to get the win.

Shane Carrier led the offense. The powerful outfielder went 3-for-4 with a walk and his second and third doubles. Rortvedt was 2-for-4 with a walk. Jean Carlos Arias went 2-for-5 with his second home run. Akil Baddoo went 2-for-5 with a walk and his second double. Royce Lewis added this third double, and Alex Kirilloff hit his second triple to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Yep, too bad about Melotakis, part of that vaunted high velocity reliever class. Made it to triple a then flamed out. I believe he had an injury couple years back, may have still affected him. Gonsalves just had a 1 game hiccup.

OK, Seth, got a couple questions about May.If my math is right, he has to come off his rehab assignment by June 1.Assuming he doesn't have any problems with his arm, what do you think the Twins will do?Will he join the Twins as a starter?Or as a reliever?If they deem it best to give him more time in the minors, does he have options remaining?

I know, I know...it is best to sit back and see how he does and what happens.Just curious about your thoughts.

Great at bat for Rooker.Maybe that will be the one to get his bat going.

Yep, too bad about Melotakis, part of that vaunted high velocity reliever class. Made it to triple a then flamed out. I believe he had an injury couple years back, may have still affected him. Gonsalves just had a 1 game hiccup.

Add me to the list of those who are surprised and disappointed in seeing Melotakis released. What prompted that move? More injury concerns? Or too many better arms ahead of him?

Without doing much research, I have to imagine that Akil Baddoo's early season statistical profile is pretty rare. I was just checking his stats on Fangraphs (which had not been updated with last night's game). Many who follow the Twins minor leaguers are probably at least somewhat aware that he has a great OBP (over .400) while his BA is quite low (.212). Amazingly that low batting average comes with a high BABIP (.340). Roughly 55% of his plate appearances end in either a walk (23.7%) or a strikeout (31.6%).

It's hard to complain about a guy getting on base at a 40% clip, but cutting down on the K's could see Baddoo really take off like many have hoped he would. (His K% has seen a significant increase with the jump to full season ball.)

Littell with yet another exceptional outing, against another good-hitting AAA club. Still only 22 years old.

Yeah. About a decade or so ago the Twins managed to get a bunch of decent seasons out of guys like Blackburn (two 2 WAR seasons), Slowey (one), Baker (three) types. Not great pitchers but they knew how to pitch with the stuff they had. I'm starting to think Littell could have that kind of impact. Solid back of the rotation type who might pitch above his stuff a bit.

Enlow's final line doesn't look too good, and the 30 strikes to 25 balls ratio is not particularly encouraging. But I also see that 4 of the 5 hits he gave up were ground balls. I join you in looking for cleaner outings from Enlow as he develops.

Without doing much research, I have to imagine that Akil Baddoo's early season statistical profile is pretty rare. I was just checking his stats on Fangraphs (which had not been updated with last night's game). Many who follow the Twins minor leaguers are probably at least somewhat aware that he has a great OBP (over .400) while his BA is quite low (.212). Amazingly that low batting average comes with a high BABIP (.340). Roughly 55% of his plate appearances end in either a walk (23.7%) or a strikeout (31.6%).

It's hard to complain about a guy getting on base at a 40% clip, but cutting down on the K's could see Baddoo really take off like many have hoped he would. (His K% has seen a significant increase with the jump to full season ball.)

His K rate has been inching down from 35-40% to closer to 30% over the past few weeks.His splits for May so far actually look great with a 24% K rate and an .868 OPS.Keeping up numbers somewhat close to that over the rest of the season would definitely justify the hype that built around him last year.

OK, Seth, got a couple questions about May. If my math is right, he has to come off his rehab assignment by June 1. Assuming he doesn't have any problems with his arm, what do you think the Twins will do? Will he join the Twins as a starter? Or as a reliever? If they deem it best to give him more time in the minors, does he have options remaining?

I know, I know...it is best to sit back and see how he does and what happens. Just curious about your thoughts.

Great at bat for Rooker. Maybe that will be the one to get his bat going.

May has yet to even start a rehab assignment.
Once he starts his assignment, he has a minimum of 30 days, but possibly as many as 60 days (players recovering from TJ surgery can be granted an additional 10-30 days) before he has to be activated.

May has yet to even start a rehab assignment.
Once he starts his assignment, he has a minimum of 30 days, but possibly as many as 60 days (players recovering from TJ surgery can be granted an additional 10-30 days) before he has to be activated.

And even after all that I believe May has an option left if they need some extra time.

May has yet to even start a rehab assignment.
Once he starts his assignment, he has a minimum of 30 days, but possibly as many as 60 days (players recovering from TJ surgery can be granted an additional 10-30 days) before he has to be activated.

I thought rehab assignments were 20 days.Did they change it?Or is it different for TJ surgeries?That was why I was asking Seth what he his prognostication was.

Yeah. About a decade or so ago the Twins managed to get a bunch of decent seasons out of guys like Blackburn (two 2 WAR seasons), Slowey (one), Baker (three) types. Not great pitchers but they knew how to pitch with the stuff they had. I'm starting to think Littell could have that kind of impact. Solid back of the rotation type who might pitch above his stuff a bit.

Summed up my thoughts quite nicely (and more succinctly). Littell already has two seasons under his belt with ~160 innings pitched- and his numbers have stayed solid, if not in some cases, even better, as he's climbed the minor league ladder.

it appears that he not only knows how to pitch with his stuff, but also that he's physically ready to pitch effectively into October. Imagine the value and luxury of having a #4-5 SP who could maybe throw 12-16 quality starts out of 28? (By contrast, the Twins 3rd best in QS in 2017 was Kyle Gibson, with all of 10).

Yep, too bad about Melotakis, part of that vaunted high velocity reliever class. Made it to triple a then flamed out. I believe he had an injury couple years back, may have still affected him. Gonsalves just had a 1 game hiccup.

A little injury called "Tommy John surgery."

It was a numbers game, I'm sure. He hasn't pitched a lot lately and was just behind others. Too bad. He's a good kid. The elbow probably played a big part of it.

OK, Seth, got a couple questions about May.If my math is right, he has to come off his rehab assignment by June 1.Assuming he doesn't have any problems with his arm, what do you think the Twins will do?Will he join the Twins as a starter?Or as a reliever?If they deem it best to give him more time in the minors, does he have options remaining?

I know, I know...it is best to sit back and see how he does and what happens.Just curious about your thoughts.

Great at bat for Rooker.Maybe that will be the one to get his bat going.

I don't know what 30 ays is from today, but I assume it's closer to June 10th. Either way, I'm sure they'll want to use all of it and let him come back slowly. I'm sure they'll build up his arm strength starting, but I have no idea what they'll do. He and Santana will both be back at some point.

And yes, it is best to just wait. These things typically work themselves out. We'll see how Berrios and Romero are doing in 3-4 weeks. Will Lynn show some improvement? There could be an injury. Who knows?

Yeah. About a decade or so ago the Twins managed to get a bunch of decent seasons out of guys like Blackburn (two 2 WAR seasons), Slowey (one), Baker (three) types. Not great pitchers but they knew how to pitch with the stuff they had. I'm starting to think Littell could have that kind of impact. Solid back of the rotation type who might pitch above his stuff a bit.

I think that's fair... Slowey could have been more until he hurt his wrist and wasn't really ever able to spin it until then. Baker could have been really good too.